The John Lennon Wall in Prague: how it gave freedom a chance in the 1980s

Situated across from the French Embassy in Prague, this colorful mess is a symbol of rebellion, freedom of speech and desire for peace. Though some may find the one-over-another graffiti unpleasant to look at, the John Lennon Wall is a monument to make you think, and one that tells the story of the power of dreamers.

Monday, December 8, 1980. John Lennon – one of the greatest musicians and pacifists in the world – is shot dead in New York. The world is left shocked and in mourning.

His legacy, however, lived on. He became a hero for the youth of Central and Eastern Europe, ruled at the time by totalitarian regimes that were the opposite in every way to Lennon’s philosophy of freedom. In fact, his music, as well as all other Western songs, was forbidden, and anyone who played such music or praised such art could have been sent to jail – a threat that didn’t stop them from doing so and from rebelling against the regimes.

Neither did that threat stop the unnamed artist who drew the first image of John Lennon, along with some Beatles lyrics on the famous wall in Prague shortly after his death. That graffiti was a tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter, an act of protest against the communist regime of Gustáv Husák in Czechoslovakia and the beginning of the wall's fame.